1990s

Today’s song is the Green Day classic Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life). This song always takes me back to my time teaching at Mearns Castle where it was performed by one of my Spanish students in a charity concert. I hope you enjoy my version of this song.

Today’s song is I Try by Macy Gray. Released in September 1999, it topped the charts in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, reached number 5 in the US, and number 6 in the UK. Like yesterday’s song, it’s actually Ben Taylor’s version which reminded me of this song.

The version of Torn that I know best, and probably the version known by most people is Natalie Imbruglia’s 1997 recording. However, it appears that this song was originally recorded by American alt-rock band Ednaswap in 1995, and an earlier recording of a Danish version of the song Brændt (“Burnt”) by Lis Sørensen dates from 1993. The actual origins are a bit unclear! Regardless, I hope you enjoy my version!

Today’s song is Alanis Morissette’s Ironic from 1996. There has been much controversy about this song, mostly relating to the definition of the word “ironic”! Indeed, comedian Ed Byrne commented: “the only ironic thing about that song is it’s called ‘Ironic’ and it’s written by a woman who doesn’t know what irony is. That’s quite ironic.” Weird Al Yankovic also made reference to the song claiming that real irony is a fire engine on fire, not “rain on your wedding day”! Regardless, the song was a huge success, topping the charts in the US and Canada, and was awarded the Juno Award for Single of the Year, received two Grammy nominations and six MTV Awards, of which it won three.

I’m running a bit late with today’s tune as I’ve had a very busy day! I’ve decided to play Robbie Williams’ Strong as my #365Song today. The original was released in 1998 and it’s hard to believe that was 17 years ago! Apparently Robbie sang Strong along with the crowd at Knebworth for the 2003 live album in an attempt to break the world record for the biggest number of people doing karaoke at one time!

Today I’m playing my own arrangement of some of the music from the soundtrack of the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves written by Michael Kamen. I think the opening music in the film is one of the best film themes. My arrangement includes the Maid Marian theme which returned at the end of the film in the form of the classic Bryan Adams song Everything I Do (I Do It For You) which I played back in 2010.

Today’s Bond song is the theme from Tomorrow Never Dies. It was performed by Sheryl Crow and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Song in 1997. The song which finally won the Golden Globe was My Heart Will Go On from Titanic.

Today’s song is Billy Joel’s Lullabye which has an interesting story. The melody was originally written as a Gregorian Chant-style prelude for the song River of Dreams featuring lyrics in Latin about a man who had lost his faith. When he heard the final recording, Joel didn’t like it, and instead used the melody with lyrics inspired by his young daughter Alexa Ray.